Who Was Jimmy Doolittle?
Doolittle was America’s greatest air racing pilot in the 1920s and ’30s, an aeronautical engineer and a fearless test pilot who made the first “blind” flight. He was also a national hero of World War II. As an air racer, he was the only person to win all three of what were considered the most important races of the era, the Schneider, Bendix, and Thompson Trophy competitions. As a test pilot with a doctoral degree in aeronautical engineering, he was at the forefront of new technology. By the end of the 1930s, Doolittle was a household name. After America entered World War II, he planned and led the first attack on Japan, the famous “Doolittle Raid,” on April 18, 1942, for which he received the Medal of Honor.
